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Lamar City Council talks library concerns with Heritage Defenders

Lamar now Monarch City USA

Mike Bowen/Lamar Ledger Editor

Posted:
08/28/2018 09:59:04 AM MDT

Lamar City Council met Monday, August 27 at the council chambers at 7 p.m.

Council member Oscar Riley, gave an update on the recent airport board meeting during the council liaison report. The airport has a proposed new name, to be called the Southeast Colorado Regional Airport and have asked the City Council for a letter of support to do so.

Riley also provided a golf board meeting update. September 8 will be the DECA golf tournament.

Mayor Roger Stagner noted that Lamar has signed up to be a Monarch City USA and is the only city in Colorado that has signed up. Lamar will get a sign to put up that says Monarch City USA and they will plant some of the plants that Monarch butterflies like and should bring those butterflies back to Lamar, noted the Mayor.

City Administrator John Sutherland provided his report to the council, noting some upcoming events including the City Council breakfast on Wednesday, September 5 at 7 a.m. at Daylight Donuts, the Tri-State 9/11 Tribute on Saturday, September 8, the Lamar Memorial Air Show/Fly-In on Sunday, September 9, the District 6 CML meeting on Thursday, September 20 at the Shore Arts Center Park with the meeting at 4 p.m., social hour at 5:30 p.m. and the dinner at 6:30 p.m.

The City has been approached about RC Planes and flying them at Escondido Park in Lamar, noted Sutherland.

A few citizens spoke to Rick Akers, Lamar Parks and Rec Director about having a runway put in at Escondido Park.

“They say they do attract a lot of people, there's a lot of people getting back into it that are flying; they're not cheap planes,” commented the Parks and Rec Director.

Akers noted the runway would be 100 feet long, 10 feet wide with one going north and south and the other going east and west. The approximate cost to install the runways is $2,000. After discussion on building the runways, the council asked Akers to look into insurance on it and to see what other communities have it and how it has worked for them.

Sutherland spoke to the council about a lot that was acquired through cleanups, liens, and abandonment about six years ago. He said there has been interest in people purchasing the property and it was discussed by the council to do an open bid on the property. There will be a cutoff date for the bid and it will be published in the Ledger.

He also provided an update on the Lamar Loop project.

He said they have been discussing the project with the contractor to see what can be done with the funds they currently have available. He spoke to the council about a proposal he would like to share with the contractor to have a full loop around Lamar with the current funds available.

“What we have here outlined in green will give people the opportunity to as Craig says, start at point A, circle the entire city and end up at point A,” noted Sutherland. “And our dollars will to the best of our knowledge and belief at this point, our dollars will pay for all of that.”

This would provide a loop that people can ride or walk, commented the City Administrator.

He said the route would include a safe way to cross Main St. and they are still treating it as phase 1 and it is not a final product, “We're going to continue to pursue trail money for ultimately building this thing out,” said Sutherland.

It was further noted this proposal for the loop is approximately 7.9 miles instead of 9.1 miles for the original plan.

Kristin McCrea, City Treasurer, also noted they will check with GOCO to make sure this new proposed plan doesn't affect the funds.

Belinda Groner, with Heritage Defenders, provided an update on their concerns with the Lamar Public Library.

“We had a really good meeting with the Library Advisory Board and we were all very impressed with the efforts that are being made to learn more about our concerns,” said Groner. Library Advisory Board members were noted as being helpful as researching the information to gather necessary facts, said Groner.

“We are suggesting that the library be held accountable for holding the EBSCO supplier accountable to the subscription which was purchased with tax payer dollars,” said Groner. She read a resolution to the council that states that the library “has been unknowingly streaming sexually explicit material and inappropriate sex toy advertisement,” commented the Heritage Defenders member.

Groner further commented their resolution states that Lamar City Council will cancel their subscription to EBSCO and not support it, “or any other database that streams sexually explicit material and/or inappropriate advertisements to minor children through the homework help tab or any other access to children under the age of 18.”

Their resolution further states that any subscription service must have a complete subscription service agreement approved by the Library Advisory Board, library staff and City Council, “which holds the provider accountable for the content being provided to comply with all state and federal laws.”

She provided a copy of the resolution to the members of the council and she noted it also included the signatures of around 130 concerned citizens and asked them to consider it for adoption.

It was also noted by Groner they would like Mayor and Council to approve all library plans and databases for the Lamar Public Library.

Groner further commented that she has a letter from EBSCO stating they cannot be filtered.

A second petition with signatures was given to the members of Lamar City Council stating they want local control over the library and it not to be given over to the State. She read their resolution which states that as a Home Rule city, Lamar has that authority to keep that control local.

Groner also asked about the subscription agreement between the City of Lamar and EBSCO for the library services. It was noted by Sue Lathrop, Lamar Public Library Librarian, the agreement is between the State Library and EBSCO and the City only pays the bill for the subscription.

To address some specific concerns, Groner said that Heritage Defenders would like to have a private meeting with Mayor and Council. Mayor Stagner commented that they will speak to the city attorney to see if the meeting would need to be held publicly or if it can be done privately.

It was also noted by council member Kirk Crespin he would like to have CIRSA review this information along with Garth Nieschburg, city attorney.

In new business, the council discussed the memorandum of understanding with Colorado State Library for website creation and hosting services for the library website.

It was discussed by the council the content is provided locally and the State Library does offer some assistance with how a page can look or built a certain way, though all of the content is local. It was discussed and approved by the council.

The council also approved for the fiscal year 2018-2019 Colorado State Grant for libraries that is generally around $5,000, and assists with growing the library's collection, according to the agenda item commentary.

The eligibility form can be submitted now it has been approved by council.

It was also discussed by the council concerning changing the library internet/computer use policy. A review was been underway concerning the policy to help make it more concise and easy to understand, as stated in the agenda item commentary.

“This was really offered as a preliminary chance for council to take a look at this,” commented Sutherland. He noted this would allow them to provide any advice on the policy.

“I think there is some good changes in this, I would like for the library board to meet again with them (Heritage Defenders) and look at the changes that they have recommended for this policy,” said Mayor Roger Stagner.

Another Lamar Public Library policy change was discussed with the city council concerning amending the circulation policy to allow children ages 17 and under to read away library fines.

“We wanted to come up with a way to encourage them to come back to the library,” said Sue Lathrop, Lamar Librarian. It was discussed by Lathrop that the idea is to make it a $1 per hour for reading in the library. The policy change was approved by the council. It was also noted to have Lathrop look into making sure the fines don't go over the cost of replacing the book.

In other business, the City put out a bid for the project of installing insulation and a heater for the Parks Maintenance Building in the City.

Bids were opened on August 15 and two bids were returned from the 12 licensed contractors the bids were sent to. One bid was complete and it was approved to accept the bid from Parker Heating & Air with the grand total noted in the bid at $12,152.87.

The Lamar City Council also discussed approving a telecom audit agreement with The SpyGlass Group, LLC.

It was discussed that over the course of nearly a year, the City's I.T. staff has been looking into the monthly telecom bills looking to find every service line on the monthly bill, where it terminates and if that line provides a service that is still needed by the City. It was noted by McCrea, that the I.T. manager has found some but they do believe more can be found that would ensure the City is being billed accurately.

A recommendation was given to the City by Prowers County to use The SpyGlass Group, LLC as they were satisfied with their findings, as noted by Prowers County Commissioner, Ron Cook, who was present at the City Council meeting.

After discussion by the council, the audit agreement was approved by the city council and it was also noted the process should take 90 days for the company to complete the audit process. McCrea also commented they will be providing them their account information for Century Link, Verizon and Secom for review.

The next Lamar City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 10 at 7 p.m.

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